Kill Me If You Can

Alan Alda is no Hawkeye here, playing real-life Caryl Chessman who got a dozen or reprieves from the death penalty. Alan was at the height of his M*A*S*H celebrity when he decided to perform in this incredibly daring role. Kind of like David Schwimmer playing this type of role. In fact, a reboot is called for, and I nominate Matt LeBlanc to play Caryl Chessman.

Alan Alda's super performance dominates this story of Caryl Chessman, who was arrested in Los Angeles in 1948 as the Red-Light Bandit. Flashing a red light resembling that used by the police, the "Bandit" would approach victims parked in lonely spots to rob the men and rape the women. Chessman spent 12 years on death row due to many counts of robbery, kidnapping and rape. After writing four books from Cell 2455, Chessman was executed in San Quentin's gas chamber in 1960. Alda conveyed the cockiness and arrogance of the convicted rapist who always exclaimed his innocence.

Sometimes a little sluggish at two hours, but interesting due to the uncanny portrayal by Alda. Also in the cast are:Talia Shire, James Sikking and John Hillerman. Above average crime drama.

Oh man, I saw this when I was about 9 at hotel somewhere in Pennsylvania (this was in 1977!) and the thing that haunted me for years, years!! - was the image of Alan Alda strapped into the gas chamber and being executed.

The admonition of the guard to 'breathe deeply, it'll be easier' was so chilling that I can remember it to this day! I've never seen the movie since but those images are so vivid I can't forget them!

On a political note, it makes you think about capital punishment and whether or not you're for or against it, it does spark a debate on how punishment is administered.

****SPOILERS**** I as well as many other people feel that Caryl Chessman, Alan Alda, would not have received the death penalty and then later be executed if it wasn't for his brazen and obnoxious actions during and after his trial for the Red Light Bandit crimes that shocked the city of L.A back in the winter of 1948.

Chessman had a genius IQ of over 150 and self-taught himself law behind bars so well that he used the same law that put him on death row to hold off his pending execution for 12 years. That resulted in 8 stays of execution that ended on Chessman's last stay where he proved that like a cat he only had nine lives to use up.

While behind bars Chessman was also able to write smuggle out with the help of his lawyer Rosalie Asher, Talia Shier, and have published his autobiography "Cell 2455 Death Row" in 1954 which later became a major motion picture the next year. It was a shame that Caryl Chessman couldn't use his above average intelligence to be a law abiding and productive citizen but used it to become a criminal in which he proved to be a total failure. One major, and indisputable, fact that came out of Caryl Chessman's execution was that it destroyed in the mind of the public the notion that justice is truly blind. With Chessman being executed more for his arrogance and abrasive attitude then for the crimes that he was convicted of which really weren't capital crimes.

It was by the presiding judge using the little known section 209 of the California Penal Code that had to do with kidnapping and injuring a person kidnapped but not murdered, which Chessman wasn't convicted or even accused of, that ended up putting Chessman on death row. There's also the fact that the two women whom Chessman was convicted of kidnapping were not physically injured even though they were raped and sodomized. Gov. Brown who was a staunch opponent of the death penalty and who was governor when Chessman was executed once was reported saying "I'm all for eliminating the death penalty only after Caryl Chessman is executed". That's just how turn offish Chessman was to everyone who dealt with him during his trial and later 12 year stay on San Quentin's death row.

Alan Alda is eerily convincing in his appearance as well as in his actions as the infamous Caryl Chessman. Talia Shier is also very good as Chessman's long suffering lawyer Rosalie Asher in this made for TV movie about Crime & Punishment. You can't help but notice how the wheels of justice were greased against Chessman in order to strap him into the San Quentin gas chamber and at the same time how Chessman did everything possible, consciously or sub-consciously, to put himself there. From his conviction on June 25, 1948 to his execution on May 2, 1960 Chessman became a Cause Celebre all over the world against the death penalty. He also had people from all walks of life from world leaders and movie stars to the average man or woman on the street protesting to save his life.

"Kill Me If You Can" is a lot like the previous movie "Cell 2455 Death Row" about the violent life and later-eight years after the book was published-highly publicized execution and death of Caryl Chessman. The movie does bring out the feelings of that time of the controversy that swirled around Chessman in the USA as well as all over the world. I always felt that Caryl Chessman was a super ego-maniac who lapped up all the attention and publicity that he got in regard to the fight for his life against the death penalty. He really didn't seem to care for or want a pardon from his trip to the San Quentin gas chamber. Chessman just loved the publicity too much to permanently cancel his appointment with death.

The movie also brings out this one important fact about Caryl Chessman: The story of Chessman's crimes would have never gotten past the front pages of the L.A newspapers in January 1948 and would have long been forgotten by everyone, with the exception of his victims. What really made Chessman famous was his both brazen and skillful way of first getting himself convicted of kidnapping and then skillfully fighting off the eight execution dates for twelve years. By doing that Chessman made a name for himself that has people talking writing and producing books and movies about him during his life as well as over forty years after his death. In this one single effort Caryl Chessman was indeed a success, in spite of his long string of failures, in life.

I saw this movie many years ago and have been trying to find it in video form ever since. Caryl Chessman was an amazing man. He did everything he could to proclaim his was innocent, and finally got what he wanted, but too late! I found it heartwarming in that the truth will prevail even though it may come late as in the instance of Caryl, and tragic because he was an innocent man who wrongly faced the death penalty and was sent to the electric chair. It actually had me on the edge of my seat so many times as I was convinced of his innocence.Alan Alda has played some great roles in the past and after this movie and in my opinion he did the character of Caryl Chessman justice. The most memorable movie I have ever seen. I will continue to find a copy of this movie and I also want his book.